In 7 years I will retire from a 20 year career as a Firefighter/Paramedic at the age of 39. I have always had a fascination with aviation. I live in Daytona Beach but my wife is wanting to move to her old home in the Chicago area. Hypothetical question: if I complete flight training in Daytona, can I be a flight instructor in the Chicago area? Or should I just wait until we have everything squared away before I start if/when we move?
Rick,
A flight instructor rating is valid throughout the country. As long as you can find an instructor position sure why not? If you’re talking about training and instructing with ATP you just have to make sure there’s not too big a gap between completing your training and instructing.
Adam
Adam,
Thank you! Yes I would like to attend ATP. I’ll be finished on my bachelor’s degree in the near future. We will see what the future holds. However, I would probably say I’d rather flight instruct where I completed my training. I would want any gap either. Thanks for the advice.
Rick,
I see no problems with training in Florida and then flight instructing in the Chicago area. I do predict a happier wife though if you also do your training in Chicago.
Chris
Yeah I think you are right. I’m excited, I read your story and you gave me hope. Living in Daytona I’ve always had Embry Riddle in my backyard and also running fire and medical calls there I always love going in there. But I invested a lot of time in the fire department. Sometimes I thought I missed out no going to the air force but I love what I do. I don’t want to fight fires all my life. And like I said before I’ve always been fascinated with aviation. I’ll be 39 when I retire from the fire department looking forward to my next career.
Rick
Rick,
Let us know how else we can help you.
Chris
Hey Rick, I’m in a very similar position. What did you end up deciding?